Email (27 messages):

• Several Intercept articles for Loose Tabs, including: Netanyahu is blowing up the Gaza ceasefire — and Trump is the one losing face; Trump DOJ charges House candidate Kat Abughazaleh with conspiracy for protesting ICE; Trump's Yemen strike killed 61 immigrants and no combatants.
• TomDispatch: Eric Ross: An exit off the Trumpian highway to collective suicide? Recent posts: Rebecca Gordon: Strategic incompetence in the age of Trump; Tom Engelhardt: The first American king?; Robert Lipsyte: Jules Feiffer taught us to fail up; Norman Solomon: Big problems need big solutions.

Had to killall, update, and restart firefox.

Daily Log

Got up just before 10, and read some more Pappé. I was thinking I would skip the "fictional diary" at the end, but slid easily enough into it, so I expect to finish it today. Meanwhile, I started with The Shock of the Anthropocene, but am only at page 5. Not necessarily the next book, but one of many candidates. I picked it up for my eye doctor appointment, as I didn't want to run out of book with Pappé. Mostly good news from eye doctor, including the note that my eyesight is better now without glasses than it was with glasses before surgery. Still, close vision is worse, so maybe I should try reading with glasses. Also, there seems to be something going on in the left eye — I forget the term he used, but he wanted to look at it again in six months. Could be this?

Epiretinal membrane. Epiretinal membrane is a delicate tissue-like scar or membrane that looks like crinkled cellophane lying on top of the retina. This membrane pulls up on the retina, which distorts your vision. Objects may appear blurred or crooked.

While the doctor seemed confident and upbeat, I came away rather distraught. My eyes were dilated, so I had to wear my new glasses with the clip-on sunglass filter. They don't help much (if any), and don't fit especially well. After that, I drove to a hardware store to look for some sort of rubber hose clamp I might be able to use to patch up the leaky faucet until I can get it replaced. I didn't find anything usable, but failed to find anyone to ask. I had previously tried using Flex Tape, but the leak blew right through it. I thought maybe a small rubber coupler with screw bands I could tighten would do the job, but smallest I found was 1.25-inch. At this point, I'm less concerned with plugging the leak than with keeping leaked water from draining back through the faucet and into the cabinet basin. I have some ideas, but they may not be worth pursuing at this point. New faucet should arrive today, but I doubt I can install it.

After that, I drove to Gyro Express, to pick up a sandwich (special deal, got two). While there, I accidentally dialed Jerry. I hung up, but the call registered, and he called me back. We had a talk about how much we both missed each other, ending when he teared up. I need to rethink how I deal with him. I complained about the car, which he dismissed as unimportant. Like a shrink, he asked what was really bothering me. As with shrinks, I hardly know where to begin, and am not sure I should. I drove home, and was fairly shook by everything. I did very little the rest of the day (other than eat gyros, and leftover cake).

Today I need to call Wichita Endodontics for some kind of follow up on the dental work. I also need to contact the roofers, and try to get some quotes, or start looking for new roofers. I'm pretty disgusted with the entire industry at this point. My next writing should be on the birthday dinner, building on drafts I've recently written. I still have stuff in the refrigerator I need to cook, so I may see what I can do on that front. Loose Tabs is always open. Also need to work on the Jazz Poll. But all of that can minimally be postponed until afternoon.

Email (16 messages):

• Email from Wichita Public Library: "Your item(s) are due and/or renewed." Just lists three items, which I think were originally 14-day books due November 1, but are now listed as renewed with a November 15 due date. One is a Malaysian cookbook I no longer have much need for. The others were new books that looked good: Marcel Dirsus: How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive; and Noah Giansiracusa: Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life. I haven't had time to look at either.
• Aesop Rock release, I Heard It's a Mess There Too, recently praised by Dan Weiss.

Daily Log

I didn't get Music Week posted until after 3AM. I was rambling, and pretty depressed by then. Got up a little after 9, and read more Illan Pappé. Top some extent he replies to my concerns yesterday about finding a political schism within Jewish Israel that might see their future depending on some kind of outreach to Palestinians. I've long known such people to exist, but they seem to be utterly marginal. I'm reminded of white people in the US who weren't just invested in their liberalism but who actually looked to black (and sometimes indigenous) movements in hopes of finding some kind of redemption there. I've felt that pull myself, but those groups -- like Communists and Weatherman -- have always been relegated to the extreme fringes of a sociopolitical system that systematically roots out and excludes heresy. And Israel has, if anything, become even more intolerant of political divisions than America was (though maybe not where America seems to be going).

My sketch of "best case scenario" still holds. Thinking about my binational notions now, but I'm reluctant to write them up. Very briefly, the people would be divided into two polities, each with its own legislature. Some "big state" functions would be exclusively controlled by the Zionist Knesset, including foreign policy, defense, and borders. Other areas, like commerce, would require agreement by both legislatures. Some, like public support of religion, education, arts, etc,, could be managed independently. Basic laws would guarantee civil rights, including the right to move within the unified state, The courts and state police would require some fine tuning. Both polities would vote in local elections, which would most likely split according to demographics, which may in turn be self-reinforcing. But much power would be decentralized, and left to the local units. Taxes would be collected uniformly, then distributed according to needs, which would make them somewhat redistributive. Basically, Israel gets to keep its Zionist conceits, while treading more lightly on the Palestinians, who lose their "national ambitions" but still can live normal lives. This isn't something one would want to impose on a blank slate, but Israel has already implemented the worst parts, so the practical task is to make them less onerous.

Raining again, but not enough to register. Cool, but not yet cold. We spent some time shopping for a new kitchen faucet. I ordered a Kraus Oletto, which is about an inch higher than the old one. Should come Wednesday. I'm somewhat reconciled to getting a plumber out to install it, but I'll take a look at it first, and see how the hoses match up, and whether I can reach the nut that holds the old unit in place (as I recall, that was very difficult, or maybe impossible without removing the garbage disposal, which itself is difficult). No news on the roofing front. I have to go to eye doctor today, so that's an excuse to put it off another day.

Email (18 messages): Nothing of note, but later:

• Dan Weiss: NO to Taylor Swift, Life of a Showgirl.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, October archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 7 albums, 1 A-list

Music: Current count 45048 [45041] rated (+7), 22 [16] unrated (+6).

New records reviewed this week:

• Lily Allen: West End Girl (2025, BMG): [sp]: B+(***)
• Call Super: A Rhythm Protects One (2025, Dekmantel): [sp]: B+(**)
• The Expert: Vivid Visions (2025, Rucksack): [sp]: B+(***)
• Rochelle Jordan: Through the Wall (2025, Empire): [sp]: A-
• Killah Priest & Purpose: Abraxas 2 (2025, Proverbs): [sp]: B+(**)
• Maria Somerville: Luster (2025, 4AD): [sp]: B+(*)
• Chris Williams: Odu: Vibrations II (2025, AKP): [sp]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

None

Old music:

None

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Jakob Dreyer: Roots and Things (Fresh Sound New Talent) [11-14]
• Joe McPhee & Strings: We Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (RogueArt) * [08-11]
• Roscoe Mitchell/Michele Rabbia: In 2 (RogueArt) * [10-13]
• Raphaël Pannier Quartet: Live in Saint Louis, Senegal (Miel Music) **
• Dave Rempis/Jason Adasiewicz/Chris Corsano: Dial Up (Aerophonic) [12-26]
• Brandon Sanders: Lasting Impression (Savant) [11-07]
• Sara Serpa/Matt Mitchell: End of Something (Obliquity) [11-07]
• Spinifex: Maxximus (Trytone) [11-14]

Daily Log

Got very little done yesterday. Didn't help that the weather was inclement. We seem to finally be into fall, although serious cold and the major tree dump are still a few weeks away. Still, looking at the end of things that were preferably done during the summer. That includes work outside the house. Also includes possible trips out of town. In some ways, this feels like the rest of my life.

Got up around 10, sleep score 90. Overcast again. Read some more Pappé. He's ok in describing what should happen, but not much help at how it could happen.

I had a spare thought the other day that democracy evolved out of rhetorical contests between elites. As Europe's medieval feudalism evolved into nation states, monarchies had to broaden their political base, allying with lesser aristocrats and other elites (clerics, soldiers, traders and other businessfolk). Nominal loyalty to the king was de rigeur, but rivalry was inevitable. Democracy within the elite group was one common tactic, and part of its appeal is that it seemed to be fair and just -- not that any of the groups were above cheating for advantage. It was also implicitly expansive, potentially to everyone, although in practice it was only extended piecewise, when some inside group thought they had an outside group whose inclusion could augment their own power.

Jeffeson recognized that "all men are created equal" sounded good, even if he didn't believe it. Jacksonian Democrats extended the franchise to lower class whites expecting them to support slavery. Republicans added freed slaves to their ledgers. Women, and later lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, turned out to be bipartisan bets. The UK has numerous examples, spread out over an even longer stretch of time. Same dynamic applies much more fitfully to France, but even in the absolutist pre-revolutionary monarchy, you see the emergence of multiple states.

So the obvious question for Israel is when and how will some Jewish political party see an advantage in soliciting Palestinian votes? Presumably this will have to come from the left, but Ben-Gurion deliberately cut the legs out from under the left in the 1930s with the Histadrut's focus on Hebrew Labor, leaving only the Communists attempting to build working class solidarity across the Israeli/Palestinian line. Today the left is extremely marginalized, and having abandoned the left, the Zionist Labor party is similarly atrophied. This has largely been accomplished by the right militarizing the conflict. I'm tempted to say it's never been more militarized than now, but 1936-39, 1947-49, 1989-92, and 2000-04 were other peak periods, the years in between were never lacking for polarizing incidents.

Still, it's possible that a respite will lead to some reflection. I don't really know how this might work, but while people tend to rally behind a war effort, many remember it badly and look to change course afterwards. The full depths of Israeli depravity since 2023 has yet to sink in, especially among Israelis and American supporters who felt most threatened by Hamas, and who have struggled so hard to remain innocent of Israel's genocide. As the threat recedes, as they become more secure, some of their eyes will open to what they've done, and there will be some kind of backlash. What kind, how much, I have little idea, but Pappé is not wrong to see "cracks in the foundation" of the Jewish state. The stretch is in thinking that sensible people will see them and start repairs. I've noticed some other books along these lines, and they all seem to have to same basic problem: lots of good ideas for a better world, but no party to implement them. The only silver lining that I see here is that in Israel (unlike America) it is easy to stand up a new party and compete nationwide. I don't see it happening yet, but it's possible.

Plan for today is to post Music Week, and to start writing up a Substack post on birthday dinner. I've already done the Music Week cutoff (a measly +7 records, 1 A-list, +6 unrated). I'm back to playing unrated albums. I've also written up most of the recipes, and I have a couple of photos I can use. I could write that up fairly quickly, or take a couple days and write up some research on past dinners (back to 2001 should be in the notebook). I can also start collecting Loose Tabs, but I'm not in much of a hurry there. Jazz Critics Poll is probably more urgent. I should at least send something out this week. I'm also thinking I should go through my address book and plea with some friends to sign up for Substack. Also do some promo on the Israel pieces.

But I also need to deal with non-writing tasks. I need to get the roofing bids in, so work on that can be scheduled. Most immediately, I need to get a new kitchen faucet. Current one has developed a bad leak, and needs to be repaired or replaced. Given that I hate it, the latter seems like the obvious choice. I also need to line up some plumbing work. I might as well get the basement drain fixed, and maybe the lead water line replaced. Then we get into the many house cleaning and organization tasks. I have the kiosk ready, the wood pile sorted, and quite a bit of storage space that just needs to be better utilized. Then the weeding out.

Email (17 messages):

• Mazin Qumsiyeh: "Weekly compilation": no mention of my pieces.
• Substack: "Demystifying the feed: Why Substack has a feed, how to use it, and what we have learned from those who are buildiing it." Or more evidence of how ill-suited I am for self-promotion.

Daily Log

Birthday dinner is history now. I did what I could within the time allowed and the energy I could muster. We had six guests, so eight in total. Jerry didn't show again, which breaks my heart. His enthusiasm did much to keep this tradition going in its Wichita phase, pretty much the same role Liz Cyr-Jones played in getting the series going. I haven't heard from her in nearly 25 years, also breaking my heart. The first dinners, back in Boston, were mostly done to impress some friends from Contex days, but mostly her. As I recall, the first Chinese had almost 20 dishes, and was repeated the next year with more than 20, then followed by a similar number of Indian dishes. The biggest was a second Indian, made in 1998 in New Jersey, with friends from New York City attending. (An attempted leftover reprise with New Jersey friends fizzled out. By this point, space became a problem.)

I have a planning file, which I'll update to reflect the dinner. I should also document the recipes (especially those I pulled out of library books), file a Facebook post, and turn the whole thing into a Substack post. So I won't belabor those points here. I will note that I wound up with 13 dishes plus 2 cakes. I still have a lot of leftover groceries, some of which I should use over the next couple days, but most will go into the trash. I learned some things, but never figured out how to get the spicing right. That didn't seem to bother any of those present, as no one touched the jar of sambal oelek I offered.

When I started cleaning up the mess after people left, I stepped in water on the floor. Turned out that the cabinet under the sink was flooded. I took everything out, mopped up the water, and did various tests to find the leak. I eventually figured out it was coming from the hose tube, where the counterweight is attached (although it now occurs to me that the leak could be where the head connects, and the water just flows down the host, pooling up and dripping where the weight is; the leak at the head has been obvious for some time, but mostly leaks into the sink; I haven't figured out any way to tighten the head connection, but I should try again). Obvious solution is to buy a new faucet. This was a pretty high-end Kohler, with a sensor control that never worked the way I wanted, so I've been unhappy with it for a long time. This is, it was such a pain to install it that I've been reluctant to replace it. Not the sort of thing I'd normally need a plumber for, but it really is pretty horrific to get all the way up behind the sink to tighten the nuts and make all the connections.

Email (10 messages):

• Picked up 3 Substack subscribers, after I made a plea at dinner to get subscribers (Holger Meyer was the only dinner guest to sign up so far; he also posted about the dinner on Facebook).
• Got 16 birthday wishes on Facebook.
• Janice sent me three photos from the dinner. We're all looking pretty old.
• Laura sent a link to a book review of From Apartheid to Democracy: A Blueprint for Peace in Israel-Palestine, by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man and Sarah Leah Whitson.

Daily Log

Birthday, remains to be seen how happy, but cooking was my idea, so if it's a bust it's my own damn fault. Woke up remembering dead people: my grandfather (father's side; the other one I never knew, as he died in 1936) died when he was 70, as he had predicted from studying the Bible; my father made it to 77, and his younger brothers to 79 and 81 (the elder one, George, didn't make it to 50, and his Jr., a year older than me, died in his 60s, and another male Hull cousin, Don, is also gone). My grandmother (also father's side; the other one died in 1947, before I was born) lived longer, but was lost to senility, and I don't think I ever saw her after 77 or so. On my mother's side, remembering Aunt Lola, who (like her parents) died before turning 70. The others of that generation are all gone, many long ago, and my cohort of cousins are mostly gone too. I did speak to Jan yesterday. She's 82, widowed, and unhappy in a room in Utah, missing her home, but at least she has children close by. Aside from Laura, I'm feeling pretty alone.

Did some cooking yesterday, but didn't get much done. I have the pork and lamb curries, but the latter came out more like a pale tan korma than the rich brown of the picture. Also have the carrot-cucumber pickle, eggplant pickle, pineapple pickle, and green beans. Also the orange-spice cake. Found some marmelade for the glaze. Finally made a batch of peanut sauce, which isn't great, but should do. I'm going to need to mix it with coconut cream for the gado gado, so I can touch it up then. Laura did manage to get the jigsaw puzzle done, so I can move it out of the way.

Got up at 10. Raining, and cold. Read some about Palestinian refugees and the "right of return." Wrote this. Recycled last night's music: highlife and something else I've already forgotten. I need to start cooking: rice first, then first of two stages for chicken and ribs, then beef redang (which takes a long time). Duck is a maybe right now. I balked at the chocolate cake last night. I could try it (supposedly easy, but sounds hard). Greens shouldn't be too hard, and can be done sooner or later. Assemble the gado gado on the side. Set the pickles out. Last bit will be to fry the rice and chicken, and finish the ribs in the oven.

Email (10 messages): nothing I even feel like opening. Several "happy birthday" messages on Facebook.

Daily Log

Only managed to get one dish done yesterday: acar kuning (cucumber and carrot pickle with tumeric). Finished it too late to taste, but looks and smells good. Big question will be the spiciness. I included two fresh chilies in the maceration, but discarded them (recipe called for them to be chopped up fine), and two dried chilies when I sauteed the flavor mix, but again discarded them (after they had infused the oil; recipe called for them to be chopped up). I'll probably follow that pattern throughout, so there will be hints of chili, but nothing extreme. This "pickle" is basically macerated vegetables, coated with a thick flavor paste. I have more cucumber and carrot, so I may try more of a brine-based pickle recipe. I also have enough eggplant to try several recipes. I figure I can go ahead and start assembling the gado gado vegetables. The green beans may be split between their own curry and the gado gado. I should also do the greens sooner rather than later, as that will reduce some of the bulk. Then on to meat curries. Also need to mix up a batch of peanut sauce. I'll start on this after breakfast. Starting to get my mise en place, and that will pick up more as needed.

I looked at grill yesterday. Problem, as I recall, was that the back burner tubes didn't light up, so something was blocking the gas flow. I disconnected the gas hose to the side burner, and couldn't get it back in, so that was the main reason I gave up. Not easy to get to the crossover gas tube, but shouldn't be too complicated: two screws will loosen the burner tube assembly, but how they fit onto the valves and crossover isn't totally clear. Still, can't be that complicated. I gave everything else a fairly good cleaning. I looked at a YouTube video on cleaning up the burner tubes, but mine don't look at all bad. So no grill in today's menu.

I sent Facebook messages inviting Jerry and Holger to dinner. Holger accepted. Feeling down after the grill, just bewildered by everything else. I tried calling Jan, but didn't get her. Then, surprisingly, Matt called me, from Arkansas. His 15-year-old daughter had a paper rejected for appearing to have been AI-generated. How did the teacher know? By using AI, of course. Matt wanted to talk about game theory, specifically how to play a situation where the rules forbid appearance of AI. Or as he put it, how do you prove a document isn't AI? Given that AI is a moving target, I doubt you can. Better question is whether you should even try? What difference does it make? I don't want to go down this rabbit hole here and now, but it wouldn't be hard for me to turn this into another argument why we need a more equitable society. Still, despite the large bullshit factor, a nice distraction from my moping.

Email (47 messages):

• Records out today: Horace Silver, Fergus McCreadie, Steve Tibbetts, Camille Bertault.

Daily Log

Despite my generally low-key, passive demeanor, and often bleak out look on the world, I usually reject others' suggestions that I am prone to depression. But yesterday I wound up feeling pretty well depressed. I was probably primed by Tuesday's triple posting. My posts usually vanish without a trace, but so much work on three at once heightens the sense of pissing into the void. No response on the roofing front either (not that I was expecting much there). Went to the dentist at 2. Cleaning was fine, but I had to pay full price, as my insurance has capped payments, and I've blown my wad this year. Most of that was on a root canal and crown on 18, and a root canal retreatment on 19 (leaving me in need of another crown). My original complaint was a low-grade pain that seemed to be worsening over a couple weeks. I probably should have had the tooth extracted, but figured it would be best to keep something there. Problem was, the same pain sensations came back, which led to suspicion of othe adjacent tooth, which had a root canal and crown back in the 1980s. Hence the retreatment. I still have the same sensations, albeit less pain, where I expect to have no feeling at all. My dentist has looked at it a couple times, and has no answers. He suggested I go back to the specialist who did the retreatment. Pending that, I don't have the permanent filling, much less the replacement crown (which my dentist is more emphatic on the need for than the specialist is). More expense, but most importantly, more hassle chasing down something that no one seems to have a handle on. I can't even really describe the sensation.

Before and after, I shopped for birthday dinner. I still don't have a firm menu, so I just bought a lot of things. I went to Nifty Nut House first, mostly to pick up macadamia nuts. They're the preferred substitutes for kemiri nuts, followed by brazils and almonds. I went to Lucky Market after that. I bought a lot of produce, including pretty much one of everything green, plus some pork (ground, leg, belly, something in between). I had to ask, but got some wafers that can be deep fried for shrimp chips. Very little there that was specifically Indonesian, but I have a huge pile of stuff. I was hungry by then, so got dinner at Cafe Maurice: shawarma platter, gyro meat and grilled vegetables over rice with tahini. It was pretty good. After that, I went to Whole Foods: got brazil nuts, some fresh coconut, some lamb (a chunk of leg and some stew meat), a few more things. I went to Dillons after that, picking up more produce, chicken wings, a very expensive piece of top round steak, cream, milk, some ice cream. I had a lot of trouble getting Spotify to work in the car, so the car felt like a horrible mistake. Gas talk is down to a quarter, so first fill up is looming. (We've had it for more than two months now.)

I didn't manage any cooking. That still leaves three days, but this morning I'm not getting an early start, and really don't know where to begin. Wrote this before breakfast, while playing Sonny Boy Williamson. Need to pick out something else now, and get moving.

Email (26 messages):

• I wrote to Mazin Qumsiyeh, and gave him links to the Gaza pieces. He wrote back, thanked me, and liked the second one. But he didn't mention it in his mailing today. [I found another mailing in spam, which had more links, but not mine.]
• Letter from Ruben Reinaldo wondering why I hadn't reviewed his album. I did, but only last week, and he didn't notice, possibly because Music Week got buried under Loose Tabs. I wrote him back.
• Intercept: Teachers scrambled after ICE released tear gas outside a Chicago elementary school; The US isn't even bothering with its usual lies to sell its regime change war in Venezuela; David Brooks is the last person we should be listening to right now.
• TomDispatch: Robert Lipsyte, Jules Feiffer taught us to fail up.

Daily Log

Mega update done. Substack post went out. Music Week and Loose Tabs appeared. Roofing progress: Gottschalk came over, will submit quote; Tom James wants his boss to come over for a look; I wrote a letter to Hometown to try to kick them into gear; I shoud send a nag to Dolphin, but they're probably out. I meant to start cooking yesterday, but the only thingn I managed was a large batch of my Spanish cabbage tapas (long planned, still have half a head). Also didn't manage to resort the pantry, but I threw out the macadamia nuts, so will have to get some new ones. Plan for today is to go shopping after dentist. I suspect I'll need one more run on Friday, but I'll try to pick up almost everything today.

Watched last 2 episodes of The Diplomat last night. They were pretty bad, with the romantic angles playing even worse than the political ones. Main point seems to be to set up a fourth season, where Ambassador Kate realizes that VP Hal and Prez Grace have become a toxic combination and seeks their destruction by holding them close. Got up at 10. Gives me a bit of time to kill before dentist at 2. I should sharpen up my shopping list, but at this point I doubt that will help much. I'll easily have more than I need.

Email (26 messages):

• Substack response: 2 likes.
• Robert Christgau: A Compelling Document of Sheer Goodness: on 'Famous Last Words: Dr. Jane Goodall' (2025).

Loose Tabs

Pick up text from here.

Daily Log

My plan for a mega update, posting Music Week and Loose Tabs, as well as sending Gaza II to Substack, fell short. I got through two of three sections in the latter, so first thing today will be to get that wrapped up. It occurs to me that I should change references to "Palestine virtual state" to "Palestine refugee state," which would be more accurate and would further distinguish the entity from any territorial claims. Gaza could then be initially described as a territory, which would follow the American model of the federal government organizing territories until they were deemed ready for statehood. I could also develop this territory concept further: Gaza could be the prototype for a UN-backed state-building kit, which could be invited into areas of failed states to reorganize government — not unlike the caretakers appointed to rebuild corporations bankrupted under Chapter 11. Alas, that sounds like another point, and I don't want any more of those.

I did my first round of Indonesian shopping yesterday, going to Thai Binh and Dillons. At the former, I bought half of a roasted duck, a 1.5 lb box of soft-shelled crabs, frozen squid, Japanese eel (probably for future use), 6 cans of coconut cream, a fair range of vegetables, including eggplants, carrots, shallots, mint, lemon leaves, ginger, galangal, turmeric, green beans, lemongrass, garlic, a handful of red chilies, dried chilies, and a few small bananas to experiment with. (They had a half-dozen varieties, and I have no idea which is which, let alone which is best for frying.) I picked up a few more things at Dillons, including a cauliflower (which actually didn't look any better than the one I skipped over at Thai Binh), a small package of potatoes, onions, scallions, mini-cucumbers, peanuts, peanut butter, a coconut (I was hoping to find some grated fresh, but no such luck, so I figured I should have one for backup).

I have Gottschalk coming over to talk about roof. Other than that, and getting the posts out, my plan is to start cooking. I want to put up a jar of acar (pickles), make peanut sauce, and try out a few of the sambals. I have a jar of sambal uelek, so no need to try to make my own there. I expect that many of these dishes will wind up spicier than I prefer, but I'm going to move cautiously on that front — especially early on, as the heat only grows with age.

Laura thinks we can finish the puzzle by Friday. I really doubt that. Perhaps if I worked full time it might be possible, but I expect to be busy with other things. [I took a half-hour before breakfast to work on this, and got 6-7 pieces in, which is more efficient than average so far.] Still means I have to dedicate a large part of the dining room table to keeping it open. At some point I'll need the space, and have to move it away.

Email (30 messages):

• Piotr send in some typos in Christgau's 1980 CG essay.
• TomDispatch: Norman Solomon: How Corporate Democrats Led to the Trump Era

Facebook comment I left for Allen Lowe:

I don't get the concept of "intellectual theft." How can you own an idea? And why, once you think of something, should you spend the rest of your life searching out predecessors to cite? This doesn't sound much different from what I learned from Benjamin on Baudellaire, which has been at the root of much of the criticism I've written for 40+ years. I rarely cite it, because the same basic ideas go back even further, and because the name-dropping is usually superfluous. I've never heard of Gilman. Maybe he's read Benjamin, or maybe he got there through some other path, or maybe it just occurred to him. The value of citing Gilman isn't because you owe him rent, but because you want to tell your reader that there's someone else thinking along these lines who might be interesting. You know, like I just did in citing Benjamin.

Lowe had previously written:

Back in the 1990s, in arguing against that art is NOT political, I started quoting Richard Gilman that art was a "counter history." I have written about this regularly for over 30 years. Never have I heard this idea cited by anyone except Richard - and what do I see in my email today - "Black Music as Counter History." Say what you want, and I am sure many of you will flail away at reassuring me that these are random things, ideas that many people come up with regularly; bullshit. Find me a citation of someone other than me or Richard Gilman (to whom I ALWAYS give credit) who has raised this as a theme previously and specifically. I don't care what you think, this is intellectual theft, and it is NOT the first time it has happened to me.

Lowe responded:

This was a specific idea of Richard's, and I am sure he read Walter Benjamin, and he was certainly influenced, but I can think of no other arts writer in the last 35 years who has used this phrase and this kind of reference to make this kind of point. Please name me one. And I'm not saying I own the idea but if as I suspect they took it from me they need to cite me and credit me with having been their source. I am extremely conscientious doing that when I write about the Arts. And this has happened to me more than once, now at least three times, where some of the pioneering arts writing that I have done since the 1990s, which people know was unlike anything that came before it, was borrowed from liberally and was in at least one case, the basis of a very popular book. It would get to you too.

Also:

And I want to add that I have seen no one, here or on any forum, argue constantly against social determinism and art, against the idea that art is social justice, or just a reflection of the times. Except for the poet Alice Gribbin, who has written about how destructive social linkage is to the arts, and she did it in an original way (and note that I credit her for it). And these guys, from what they say, don't even really understand it any way. Funny thing is that I seem to recall that Benjamin's ideas about this were NOT anti social connections and art, especially in his critical work about Brecht. But I would have to go back to it. But the key is the TERMINOLOGY, the use of the phrase "counter-history," which reeks of "borrowing."

Paul Kumar also wrote:

Allen, while I don't think you will care much for what Ronald Radano, the author whom you are crticizing without naming, means when he uses the term "counterhistory," I think it would be good for you to read at least some of what he has written before concluding that he is stealing work of Richard Gilman's and yours without attribution. From the little bit of his book that I have read, I think the concept of "counterhistory" as he deploys it has limited kinship and outright contradictions with Gilman's and your concept as you have explained it previously. Moreover, Radano traces his use of the concept explicitly to Foucault's use of the term in a very different context than yours in a 1976 lecture at the Collège de France. To the extent there is any similarity between what Radano means and what you mean, it most likely runs back through Foucault to Benjamin in his case and through Gilman to Benjamin in yours.

This led to a discussion of Foucault, where Tony Ferrizzi recommended an essay, "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History" (in lieu of the "huge history books (though they are magic)." I've only read bits of early Foucault -- most likely Madness and Civilization, The Birth of the Clinic, and/or The Order of Things (in my memory it was "Birth of the Asylum," which may be a subtitle to the former, or a corruption of the second; I definitely had a copy of the third, but don't recall making any real headway through it; I liked the word "structuralism," but never explored its theorists deep enough to claim any understanding of what they meant). Interestingly, when I googled for "counterhistory," I got a Wiktionary definition that was much less pointed than I assumed Gilman had meant ("an alternative interpretation of history"). I also found a piece titled What is Counterhistory?, which cited Foucault (on Nietzsche, no less), but also a book by David Biale, Gershom Scholem: Kaballah and Counter-History, which gets us pretty close to Benjamin. I thought about responding, but I'm overwhelmed with other crap.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, October archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 40 albums, 8 A-list.

Music: Current count 45041 [45001] rated (+40), 12 [29] unrated (-17).

New records reviewed this week:

• Affinity Trio [Eric Jacobson/Pamela York/Clay Schaub]: New Outlook (2024-25 [2025], Origin): [cd]: B+(***)
• Ammar 808: Club Tounsi (2025, Glitterbeat): [sp]: B+(**)
• Bar Italia: Some Like It Hot (2025, Matador): [sp]: A-
• Bobby Conn: Bobby's Place (2025, Tapete): [sp]: B+(*)
• Hollie Cook: Shy Girl (2025, Mr Bongo): [sp]: B+(**)
• Madi Diaz: Fatal Optimist (2025, Anti-): [sp]: A-
• El Michaels Affair: 24 Hr Sports (2025, Big Crown): [sp]: B-
• Esthesis Quartet: Sound & Fury (2025, Sunnyside): [bc]: B+(**)
• Carter Faith: Cherry Valley (2025, MCA Nashville): [sp]: B+(**)
• Robert Finley: Hallelujah! Don't Let the Devil Fool You (2025, Easy Eye): [sp]: A-
• Tomas Fujiwara: Dream Up (2023 [2025], Out of Your Head): [cd]: A-
• Todd Herbert: Captain Hubs (2024 [2025], TH Productions): [cd]: B+(***)
• Maja Jaku: Blessed & Bewitched (2025, Origin): [cd]: B+(***)
• Zara Larsson: Midnight Sun (2025, Summer House/Epic): [sp]: B+(*)
• Jens Lekman: Songs for Other People's Weddings (2025, Secretly Canadian): [sp]: B+(***)
• Lizzy & the Triggermen: Live at Joe's Pub (2024 [2025], self-released): [cd]: B+(**)
• Russ Lossing Trio: Moon Inhabitants (2020 [2025], Sunnyside): [bc]: B+(*)
• Kelsey Mines: Everything Sacred, Nothing Serious (2024 [2025], OA2): [cd]: B+(*)
• Andy Nevala: El Rumbón (The Party) (2023-24 [2025], Zoho): [cd]: B+(***)
• Princess Nokia: Girls (2025, Artist House): [sp]: B+(***)
• Nicholas Payton: Triune (2025, Smoke Sessions): [sp]: B+(**)
• Reneé Rapp: Bite Me (2025, Interscope): [sp]: B+(**)
• Jussi Reijonen: Sayr: Salt/Thirst (2025, Unmusic): [cd]: B+(*) [10-24]
• Jussi Reijonen: Sayr: Kaiho - Live in Helsinki (2025, Unmusic): [os]: B+(*) [10-24]
• Rubén Reinaldo: Fusión Olívica (2024 [2025], Free Code Jazz): [lp]: A-
• Gonzalo Rubalcaba/Yainer Horta/Joey Calveiro: A Tribute to Benny Moré and Nat King Cole (2025, Calveiro Entertainment): [sp]: B+(***)
• Rich Siegel: It's Always Been You (2025, self-released): [cd]: B
• Tom Skinner: Kaleidoscopic Visions (2025, International Anthem): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sudan Archives: The BPM (2025, Stones Throw): [sp]: A-
• Suede: Antidepressants (2025, BMG): [sp]: B+(*)
• Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl (2025, Republic): [sp]: A-
• Patrisha Thomson: Your Love (2025, PT Designs Productions): [cd]: B
• Henry Threadgill: Listen Ship (2025, Pi): [cd]: B+(***)
• Mark Turner: Reflections On: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (2025, Giant Step Arts): [cd]: B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Kenny Barron: Sunset to Dawn (1973 [2025], Muse/Time Traveler): [cd]: B+(**)
• Roy Brooks: The Free Slave (1970 [2025], Muse/Time Traveler): [cd]: A-
• Ivan Farmakovskiy: Epic Power (2010, SteepleChase): [sp]: B+(***)
• Carlos Garnett: Cosmos Nucleus (1976 [2025], Muse/Time Traveler): [cd]: B+(*)
• John Lennon & Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band: Power to the People: Live at the One to One Concert (1972 [2025], Universal, 2CD): [sp]: B+(**)
• Pharoah Sanders: Love Is Here: The Complete Paris 1975 ORTF Recordings (1975, Transcendence Sounds, 2CD): [sp]: B+(**)

Old music:

• Roy Brooks: Beat (1964, Workshop Jazz): [sp]: B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Martin Bejerano: The Purple Project (Figgland) [11-21]
• Theo Bleckmann: Love and Anger (Sunnyside) [10-31]
• Tomas Fujiwara: Dream Up (Out of Your Head) [09-12] [damaged]
• Thomas Morgan: Around You Is a Forest (Loveland Music) [11-07]
• Tom Ollenberg: Where in the World (Fresh Sound New Talent) [11-21]

Daily Log

Watched two more episodes of The Diplomat last night. The extreme implausability of not one but two career diplomats being considered as non-elective vice presidents, as well as the notion that they could continue to function as separate but still married but not really, is really getting out of hand. Most annoying part was Hal's glib defense of the F-35, which both president (Allison Janney) and diplomat (Keri Russell) witnessed and somehow thought profound. Other countries buy F-35s not because they want them, but because they think doing so will win them points with whoever's in charge of America. They are useless and insanely expensive, but their purchase is considered a legal form of tribute (or bribery). As I recall, when Biden threatened to hold back on delivering 2,000 lb bombs, Israel promptly agreed to buy a couple dozen F-35s, which would take years to deliver, so Biden released the bombs now.

Finished writing my Gaza II piece yesterday. I had sent Gaza I to five people, but only heard back from Laura, so I just sent this one to her. I woke up thinking of more stuff I could add, but it's already way too long. And while it leaves many questions unanswered, I thought it ended strong. Those questions, by the way, mostly have to do with the coddling of Israel and Trump that has to occur in order to get them to actually do the bare minimum for peace. I'm willing to throw the Palestinian refugee issue under the bus, not just to appease Israel but because I really think the people involved will be much better off if they turn their backs on Palestine and build new lives elsewhere. So I see extending the Gaza deal to disperse the other refugees, and to allow more emigration from the West Bank — those are the things Israel most cares about — I still think a lot of pressure will be needed on Israel to keep them from killing the rest of their people (and "their" is appropriate, because they [Israelis] are responsible for the rest of the Palestinians still under their rule). That means no amnesty for war crimes (even though the charges are effectively unenforceable, they should still face public scrutiny every day), and a rededicated BDS effort to impose some (however small) cost on their continuing apartheid regime. Hopefully, readers won't have to think too hard to read those points between the lines.

I've started reading Illan Pappé's Israel on the Brink: And the Eight Revolutions That Could Lead to Decolonization and Coexistence. Intro was common stuff, but the book itself has already started getting interesting. I'm not a close observer of Israeli politics, so that's what I'm looking for insight into. I do suspect that the self-harm Israel has committed will sooner or later exact a price on their political self-conception. I have no idea how that will play out, but Pappé's assertion of "cracks in the foundation" is very likely right. I need to stop myself here, before I argue that the rottenness of Zionism could only be exposed by example, much as the rottenness of Nazism was (and the rottenness of Trumpism is also showing).

Woke up at 11, but sleeping was uneasy for at least an hour before I got up. Read some. Came down. Heard a buzz in the basement, where a UPS is starting to die. They are necessary machines, but pretty unreliable, and have turned into a substantial portion of our "E-waste." I should pick up another one, or two (as I have one in the dining room just being used as a power strip). Laura has dentist today, so will be out this afternoon. I have tons of work to do today and all week. I really want to spend this whole week on birthday dinner, but have: Substack post (today), Music Week (today), Loose Tabs (tomorrow?), Gottschalk roofing (tomorrow), dentist (Wednesday), as well as shopping and cooking, probably more roofing throughout the week. Not even sure who the guests will be.

I finally went to library on Saturday, and picked up four area cookbooks (none of the ones I had considered ordering, but enough to work with). I thought I'd do a shopping round, but held off on that. I'm thinking now that I'll go to Thai Binh after Laura gets back from dentist, just for some early reconnoitering, then go to the Harry St. store after my denstist on Wednesday, plus whatever else I need at that time. I'm thinking I'll start with sambals, pastes, and sauces perhaps as early as tonight. I should check on the pickle (achar) recipe too. I also need to do some housecleaning and organization. I should also see if I can figure out what's wrong with the grill. I can get by without the saté skewers, but they would be terrific, and I'm seeing some other grilled dishes -- chicken that has been cooked in coconut milk, whole fish -- that could be amazing.

Email (17 messages):

• Semipop Life: mostly EPs I've mostly heard, but some ideas.
• Seth Rosner wrote to ask when I'm sending jazz poll ballots out.

Daily Log

Spent most of yesterday working on the Gaza II piece. Basically, I rewrote the introduction from scratch, pushing everything else down. But I failed to complete, let alone post, so that will be a big push today. I had hoped to get Gaza II out yesterday, and Loose Tabs up today, with a brief recap of Music Week on Monday that would clear my calendar, so I could start cooking birthday dinner. I also have dentist next week, plus all that roofing business, so I'm feeling overwhelmed. Jazz Critics Poll after that.

Watched 2 episodes of season 3 of The Diplomat last night. Feels ever more like a liberal war fantasy, not unlike The West Wing or (presumably, as I never watched a whole episode) Madame Secretary. Entertaining, perhaps even gripping, if you overlook much. Laura is into it, so I'll watch on. I will say, though, that all these hyperintelligent, fanatically hard-working operatives seem like a major disconnect from what we've been able to discern from the Trump and Biden administrations (and for that matter their only marginally more competent predecessors). The actual operatives there seem likely to make Veep overly rationalized, because it's hard for even satirists to grasp how vacuous their subjects really are. I only occasionally hate-watched The West Wing, noting it imagined a better Clinton White House, one where all the people were better actors, being fed better-scripted lines, as if a slight tune up in appearances was the only thing keeping Clinton's admin from rousing success.

Slept ok, getting up once, then again after 10. Started reading Ilan Pappé's new book, which covers similar ground to my essays, but is better written and more cogently argued. My value added is mostly in the crazy ideas department, but I suspect he has those later on, as well. His focus is on potential change within Israel. My focus is more on how the world should deal with these murderers, given that there is very little we can do until they want to change. Ideally, in the end both approaches will meet, and help one another.

Some email (13 messages):

• Daily stats for Substack post: 109 views, 3 likes, 0 subscriptions. Email opens 75%, direct-to-app 12%, direct 8%. Pleased to see views are up, but outpacing subscriptions. Later: 3 more likes.
• Project Syndicate: Carl Bildt, "Putin is out of options."
• Heard back from Jeff Salamon. He wants me to drop the international shipping terms from the form, so I'll do that (and blame Trump; why not?).
• Vox articles, including Zack Beauchamp on "Can America recover from Trump?" and Ian Millhiser's "It sure looks like the Voting Rights Act is doomed."
• Got my Indonesian groceries: kecap manis, dried pandan leaves, dried kaffir lime leaves.
• Allen Lowe on "Jazz singers who don't annoy me": Jimmy Rushing, Jabbo Smith, Marion Harris, Anita O'Day.

Daily Log

Watched episode 4 of Silent Witness last night, followed by Abbott Elementary goes to a Phillies game. Spent most of the day going over my NOEL post on Gaza War Peace Plan. Got two likes fairly quickly. Big hope for today is to revise the part two piece and get it out tonight. That's going to be a tougher job, as the piece is rather sprawling and messy. Woke up today thinking of a new introduction, which seems necessary for continuity from the first piece. Then I found my thoughts expanding into what is minimally a third piece.

Woke up early, before the machine shut down (which seems to be more likely when I'm on my back). But I stayed in bed, and went back to sleep. Got up about 11, with 460 minutes. AHI was 2.1, higher than usual, but still under their 5 marker. Finished the Barkan book. Last couple chapters were very scattered, directing a lot of ire at Democrats from almost random angles. It might be interesting to come up with a exercise sheet where you list all of these complaints, estimate how many people were affected by each, and apportion blame in two columns: not just how badly the Democrats blew the issue, but how clever the Republicans were in exploiting it, and an estimate of how long they might be able to get away with it. I marked a couple quotes I might expand on in Loose Tabs. Lots of candidates for next book, but Ilan Pappé is probably LIFO.

Roof business: Tom James came over. I gave him a tour, talked a lot, got his assurance that he's interested in doing anything we want, any way we want it. I asked him to break the job up into several segments, that he could estimate separately. I hadn't heard from Gottschalk, so I sent them a form, and found they hadn't gotten my email. Something rotten with Cox, evidently. I resent it, and Wanda assured me that Jim would look at it and get back to me early next week. I should probably do the same thing with Dolphin, as I haven't heard from Chris Martin either. Downtown left a phone call last week, so they're still interested. I'll send them some email over the weekend. That should be enough ducks lined up for now. I'll press everyone else to give me proposals like I've requested from Tom James. We should be able to make a decision on the first stage (high roof) next week.

Laura wants to go to the No Kings demonstration. I don't. It's noon already, and I still haven't had breakfast. In addition to all the writing, I had the idea of going to the library (to see if I can find any of the Indonesian cookbooks I didn't buy), and to an Asian grocer (to make a first pass on ingredients). Light email (8 messages).

• Christian Paz on "The next big debate Democrats can't dodge": "What should the party do about ICE?"
• Farmers Insurance asks "based on your recent claim experience, how likely are you to recommend Farmers Insurance to family, friends, or colleagues?" Choices are 1 to 10.
• Amazon order of Indonesian ingredients delayed ("now arriving tomorrow").
• Checklist of bands you've seen. Hardin Smith had 8. I had 4: B-52s, Ramones, Blondie, Clash. (All in NYC, 1976-80.)

Some spare parts cut from editing the second Gaza piece:

I recently wrote about the Gaza War Peace Plan, specifically the 20-points that Trump announced on September 29, which has since been partially agreed to by representatives of Israel and Hamas, with further details to be worked out at a meeting in Egypt. They key elements that have been agreed to are:

1. Israel will cease military operations in Gaza, and will withdraw from a defined part of the Strip, and will withdraw farther in steps later on. Hamas will also ceasefire, not that they had any significant firepower in the first place.
2. There will be an exchange of prisoners/hostages.
3. Aid will be allowed to enter Gaza, to be distributed among the survivors there.

These steps have happened, although Israel has since shot some Palestinians, and held back some aid trucks. Hamas has had some difficulty delivering corpses for Israelis who died as hostages, and Israel is claiming that as evidence of noncompliance. Israel has a long history of making agreements in bad faith and sabotaging them when they thought they could get away with it, and this may well go the same way. But this is very welcome as long as the ceasefire holds. The war is not just horrific on its own terms, but fogs over operations in the West Bank and elsewhere, while reinforcing a psychology of terror that Israel's politicians have exploited for their own genocidal aims.

The plan also includes numerous planks about the future governance and redevelopment of Gaza. Hamas has argued that agreement on matters like that requires broader Palestinian participation, whereas they are only one [much diminished] group. The key questions remaining are how much self-control the residents of Gaza can exercise, and how much interference/direction they must suffer at the hands of Trump (and maybe Blair), the Arab states, and most seriously Israel.

I think we should be very adamant that Israel is entitled to no say whatsoever. They have ruled Gaza since 1967, and to say that they have failed completely is an orders-of-magnitude understatement. Peace depends on a sense of security, justice, and freedom. All Israel has brought to Gaza is fear, terror, restraints, and impoverishment. No one with eyes can fail to see this. This shouldn't even be open for discussion. The Palestinian Authority is nearly as discredited, especially as its main business is in the West Bank, and it has more problems there than they know what to do with. Transplanting it to Gaza is tantamount to giving Israel a proxy. As for America, Europe, and the Arab powers, they are all more or less tarnished. Gazans are likely to welcome their help, and reward it with peace, but they are unlikely to buy into their business schemes, nor should they. The people who live there need to be in control of their own destiny, able to deal with who they want, when and where they choose.

I have long advocated for a clean separation of Gaza from Israel, because I've long seen it as a problem that could be solved separately. That's partly because I've never bought the idea that there should be one Palestinian state for one people. The idea of partitioning Palestine into two states goes back to the 1936 Peel Commission, was revived by the UN in 1947, and has been a staple of American politicians ever since. Israel's own endorsements for the idea have been opportunistic, cynical, and fleeting. Rather than reviewing them, it should suffice to note if Israel actually wanted a two-state division, they could have implemented it completely on their own. They didn't need to find a "partner for peace," they could have finessed the refugee problem, and they could have backed down the other Arab powers (as they did Egypt in 1979). The easiest time to do it was 1967, when it was at least considered, but they could have done it well into the Oslo era, and possibly later. I'm tempted to say they could still do it now, but I can't think of a single political figure in Israel who has the guts and cunning to try to pull it off. That there are still Americans who see it as an option just testifies to the depths of our delusion.

The key thing to understand about the "two-state solution" is not just that it was designed to fail, but that it based on the assumption that Israelis could not stand to share the same polity with Palestinians. This was a profoundly racist assumption, one at the heart both of Israeli self-consciousness — formed as it has been by European anti-semitism, by Britain's divisive colonial administration (where they assumed Britain's role above and against the Arabs), by the deep trauma of the Holocaust, and by fear-mongering joined with perpetual war — and it was readily echoed by the British and Americans who have moved so naturally to sanctify the "two-state solution." You can confirm this with the mere mention of the obvious alternative, which is one state where all people have equal rights.

I can argue that the Israeli mindset is wrong, but I have no doubt that it exists and is immovable. (And sure, I know there are exceptions.) So whenever I try to think of ways to settle this conflict, I have to start from the assumption that Israelis are exactly as they are, and not as I'd like them to be. This not only means that they are intractably racist, chauvinist, and paranoid, but that they have nearly complete power of self-determination. That means they cannot be forced to do anything they aren't willing to do. That doesn't mean that they cannot be nudged, as Netanyahu was by Trump to accept a ceasefire/hostage return he most likely didn't want. But there are limits to what they'll concede, and sooner or later anyone who wants to achieve peace has to work around them.

I think we have to accept two simple facts here:

1. Israel has won its struggle to exist as however it chooses to define itself as a "Jewish State," and no one else can threaten them or try to dictate terms as to how they run their state. They are sovereign, no matter how much we might disapprove of their "peculiar institutions."

2. Israel will never accept return of the Palestinian refugees from 1948 and later, no matter how legitimate we think their case for return may be. Ethnographically-stratified settler-colonial states rise or fall based on demographics. Israel is precariously on the edge, held up by sheer force, so they feel that any loss is likely to be their existential ruin. If anything, they want more transfer, not less.

On the other hand, Palestinians have no military power — the last tatters were spent by Hamas in their Oct. 7, 2023 revolt, and while it shocked many people at the time, its only lasting effect was in the choices Israel made to respond. All that leaves them with is their humanity, which many people have been trained to discount, but which most of us cannot ignore, but doesn't much impress the might-makes-right crowd.

Whenever I've attempted to craft a solution, I've tried to work within these limitations. The result is that nobody's happy with the sort of things I propose. That's partly because all sides specialize in self-serving rhetoric, often more to impress their followers than to make progress with others. Or possibly just to set up excuses for failures they never wanted to happen in the first place. I've read a lot of history, and have developed models in my head of how various parties think and operate. I know that neither side is monolithic, but often gravitate between multiple positions.

Explaining these insights (or hunches) is probably a hopeless task, but one thing to bear in mind is that both Israelis and Palestinians tend to think that time is on their side, so they worry about conceding too readily. Thus far that's worked much better for Israel, which has steadily gained power, increasing their ambitions and arrogance, while Palestinians have struggled to catch up with deals that are no longer on the table (if indeed they ever were). Both sides' aims have changed over the years, which has rarely been recognized by the other, much less used to build more satisfactory proposals.

---

• We recognize as a matter of principle as well as fact that no sovereign nation can be forced to do anything against its own will, and that any threats to do so by force are wrong. Therefore, we recognize that Israel cannot be forced or punished, regardless of its crimes against humanity and/or the environment. We acknowledge that "international law" is unenforceable, simply a set of conventions that most nations agree to live by out of an understanding of their own interests. No nation should fear for its existence.

• We also concede that sovereign nations are allowed to express their own disapproval of other nations through policies that limit themselves, like sanctions (and unlike a blockade). Sanctions do not have a very successful track record, especially when they've been used by great powers to bully lesser ones for selfish ends (as has usually been the case when the US has imposed them). Some ground rules might help: they need to be limited to clearly defined and widely opposed behavior; they need to be support people of the offending nation, and not be seen as pressing the declarer's own interests; they need to be removable once the behavior is corrected, with the resoration of normal relations. Sanctions against South African apartheid are a good example. US sanctions against Cuba, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea are bad faith examples. Israel has a long list of criminal behavior both against its own people and others. While genocide in Gaza has jumped to the head of the list, there is much else to consider, as the genocide is rooted in much deeper patterns of discrimination, deceit, and violence. On the other hand, for tactical reasons one might wish to start with the most grievous offenses, and allow some opportunity to remedy them before moving onto lesser offenses.

• While there is much we might fault Israel for, the top of the list is war against Gaza. Israel attacked Gaza multiple times when it was under Egyptian control, from 1950-1967. After seizing it in 1967, it subjected Gaza to cruel military control, which provoked two major uprisings. In 2006, it walled up the perimeter and withdrew its administration, turning the whole area into an "open-air prison." Since then it has periodically conducted bombing and shelling, which it has euphemistically termed "mowing the grass," while restricting imports (e.g., of food, termed "putting Gaza on a diet"). With no recourse, this brutality drove Gaza's residents toward its most militant organizations. Ultimately, this led to a desperate revolt on Oct. 7, 2023, where militants breached Israel's defenses, attacked both civilian and military targets, killed 1200 Israelis, and took another 250 captive.

  Israel responded with threats to kill everyone in Gaza. They've carried out their threats by killing many thousands, destroying all infrastructure, most agriculture, and some 85% of housing, while spreading starvation and disease. The word "genocide" describes this, as the intent and effect has been spread throughout the entire population. Unlike most invading powers, Israel has made no effort whatsoever to pacify and stabilize any part of Gaza. The minimal conclusion we can draw from this is that Israel should have no role and no presence or effect in the postwar management of Gaza. We must insist that Israel renounce any claims it has to the land, people, and/or resources of Gaza.

  While we cannot force Israel to halt its war and limit its claims, everyone should apply whatever influence they have to convince Israel to do so voluntarily. (With the Trump plan, Israel has suspended its war, although not quite completely. The Trump plan seems to allow Israel a say in how Gaza is run into the indefinite future. This would be bad for everyone. Israel is quite capable of defending its own borders, although its need to do so should go down considerably once it stops stirring up the nest of resentments in Gaza. The same is probably true for the West Bank, but the encroachment of settlements there has made it much harder to define a clear break there, and Israel appears to be more committed to staying there, so that's a separable issue.)

• Palestine has been recognized by 157 of 193 member states of the United Nations. It has been a "non-member observer state" of the UN General Assembly since 2012. The US has blocked its full membership. This started in 1988, with 81 nations. At that point, the recognized government was the PLO, headed by Yasser Arafat in exile in Tunisia, having offered his "olive branch" for peace and recognition of Israel. The Oslo Accords allowed Arafat to return to Israeli-occupied Palestine and establish the Palestinian Authority. Under the Oslo Accords, the PA was authorized to negotiate on behalf of all Palestinians for a two-state division of Israeli-controlled territory, some of which was internationally recognized, while other parts were illegally occupied since the 1967 war. It's worth noting here that it was Israel which selected who it would negotiate with. Somehow, the Palestinians never get to elect their own representatives.

  The negotiations were frustrated by a series of Israeli governments, with the US always backing the Israeli line in the blame game. When they fell apart in 2000, an "intifada" erupted, which was brutally suppressed by Israel, reducing the PA to a relatively trivial role as an agent of Israeli control. The PA was further delegitimized in 2006-07, when elections that favored Hamas were ignored, Sharon dismantled settlements in Gaza allowing the complete isolation of the Strip, and Hamas seized power there.

  The present PA, with Mahmoud Abbas as its no-longer-elected president, pushed for recognition, including UN membership, in 2011-12, and picked up additional support, presumably to bolster its credentials in efforts to negotiate a "two-state solution" that Israel gave some lip service to bu constantly undermined. Another push for recognition kicked off in 2024, to register concern over the ongoing genocide. After October 2023, the Hamas government in Gaza disappeared. Parties outside Gaza have represented Hamas in negotiations in Qatar and elsewhere, and managed to release the "hostages" held in Gaza, but there is at present no legitimate represenation of the Palestinian people. Hence, one has to ask, what good does this recognition do?

  I want to make one proposal under this point. (We can circle back to the other groups later.) The normal situation is that each sovereign nation possesses defined borders, and supports the rights of all of the people within its territory. There are occasional anomalies. Sometimes there is a border dispute, as between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s. These should be negotiated between the parties, possibly referring the dispute to the World Court. Israel and Syria had a border dispute before the 1967 war consolidated small issues into a much larger one, which still needs to be resolved. (A side issue here, the Bekaa Farms on the border with Lebanon, has been the site of numerous incidents.) As border disputes can easily turn to war, it behooves all of us to come up with mutually agreeable peaceful solutions as soon as possible.

  However, it is a second group of anomalies that concerns us here. Sometimes nations define themselves to exclude or deny rights to some of the people who live there. This is contrary to belief in most of the world, but there is very little that world public opinion can do against a determined state. (War is out of the question, as it only compounds and spreads the injury. Economic sanctions are possible, but have a poor track record. More about them later.) Israel is an example: its "Arab citizens" are second class, and the residents of its occupied territories aren't even that. People in Gaza have fared even worse: subject to periodic bouts of collective punishment, which has risen to genocidal levels since October 2023. International law states that Israel is also responsible for refugees from its past wars, going back to 1948. There are now millions of Palestinians denied the peace, security, and fundamental rights of citizenship.

  We can't fix this, but we can start by recognizing the problem. One way to do this would be for the UN to recognize a new category of sovereign nations: a virtual state of displaced people. The UN, through one of its courts, should be empowered to recognize substantial groups of refugees for such status. There may be other groups where this might make sense, but let's start with Palestinians, and specifically everyone in (or fleeing from) Gaza. (Palestinian refugees elsewhere could also be organized, but for now I'd keep them separate, as they have different needs. Palestinians inside the occupied territories could be a third group. Extending this to people who are merely discriminated against, such as Palestinian citizens of Israel, is a future option, but much less pressing.)

Daily Log

Watched the final Karen Pirie episode last night. Lots of plot twists that ultimately added up to a pretty satisfactory story. I though of "oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive," figuring it to be Shakespeare but on looking it up it seems to have come from Walter Scott. Got up once, but went straight back to bed, and woke around 10, thinking of roofing. Gottschalk never got back to me from my Monday call/email. Tom James is coming over this afternoon. Dolphin never got back with an estimate either, and Midwest never called back. Laura belatedly told me that Hometown left a message, but I haven't called them back. In general, I figure it would be best to get the work done before it gets too cold, but everyone seems to be moving very slow, especially myself.

I did write a bunch more on the second Gaza post yesterday. It could still be a lot of work to make it all make sense, and at this point I'm just looking for the first opportunity to tee up a field goal and be done with it. I do think there are lots of good ideas there, but it's hard to see anyone taking them seriously. The big problem is that I'm working off a model of how I think the world should work, and everyone else has a different model, not of how it actually does work (a task hampered by the sad fact that it rarely does work) as their own limited vantage points.

Ukraine is probably a clearer example: both sides there are struggling for leverage to impose their will on the other, which neither can do, instead of trying to find the compromise that best serves the real people affected by the war. The admonition "do the right thing" would go far toward solving that. Israel is harder to see because, while it's couched in the same power politics, it's really just one side grappling with its own demons, oblivious to the damage it inflicts on others. I might find somewhere to use that, but I have a lot of similar points I'm unable to get to. My hope is to get the first post out tonight, the second tomorrow, and Loose Tabs on Sunday, then Music Week on Monday, leaving the rest of next week for cooking (I've started a planning file).

Email (40 messages, some leftover from last night):

• Amazon package shipped: I ordered some of othe more obscure Indonesian ingredients: dried kaffir lime leaves, sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), dried pandan daun leaves.

Daily Log

Watched Slow Horses and Elsbeth last night. Spent most of the day working on part 2 of my Gaza war/peace post. I hit the bullet points, but feels very rough, and definitely needs intro and outro. Was effectively blind when I woke up, unable even to make out the 3-inch digital numbers on the clock. But I did take Barkan's book with me to the bathroom, and after a few minutes I started reading. I wound up finishing the "Israel" chapter, leaving "Culture" for next. Like Beauchamp, a young Jewish-American journalist with little affection for Israel. (Beauchamp came from Holocaust-survivor families, which seems not to have weighed in Israel's favor.)

Nothing on the roof front yesterday, aside from one company dropping by to offer a "free inspection." I'm bothered by the lack of follow up from previously contacted companies, but there's other stuff I'd rather work on. I hope to clean up the second Gaza post today, and send out the first one.

Email (24 messages):

• IPSOS New Vehicle Customer Study poll request. I never filled out the previous Toyota requests, but I'm upset enough I should look them up and vent a little.
• Substack: new subscriber (Rob Hoff).
• Mazin Qumsiyeh: "Gaza ignored a global uprising and change is happening."
• Project Syndicate: I signed up for their newsletter to read an article, but turns out I can't read more articles without paying more money. This one offers articles of some minor interest: Barry Eichengreen on "Will stablecoins preserve dollar dominance?"; Ken Rogoff on "Will AI pay off the West's debts?" I suspect the answer to both is "no," but won't bother checking them out. Also articles on "Is the global economy as resilient as it seems?" and "Is economics promoting inequality?" Probably "yes" on those. Also got a poll request from them, to "help Project Syndicate improve."
• TomDispatch: Nick Turse on "The war within," sub "The Trump administration's military occupation of America."

Daily Log

Watched more of The Gold and Only Murders in the Building last night. I made a small amount of progress on the roof yesterday: I found out that Tom James, who I know through the Peace Center and hired once to put in a French drain, is working with a roofing company these days. I talked to him, and he's coming over Friday. I talked to another friend, who recommended Gottschalk Brothers Roofing, so I called them, sent them the claim report, and am waiting for a call back. I did some checking on Hometown Roofing, and one reference didn't pan out. Nothing more from previous contacts. It rained some, but I didn't check the attic. I'm at something of a loss here, but figure it wouldn't hurt to let it slide until Friday.

Week after will be my birthday, leading up to dinner on Saturday. I got another southern cookbook from Amazon, but haven't ordered any Indonesian yet. I figured I should look at the books I have, and see if I could make a sufficient menu out of them. I opened a file, and jotted down a dozen-plus recipes, plus made notes on several Rijsttafel menus (and watched a video from a restaurant in the Hague). Seems like more than enough to work with. But it does occur to me that perhaps I should order some ingredients rather than -- as with the Burma dinner last year -- hoping I could find them locally. (I wound up unable to make the Tea Salad, supposedly the signature Burmese dish.) I could go out and reconnoiter, but Amazon might be easier. I'm thinking that the best way to do Indonesian would be to sort the dishes out by how long they keep, and start cooking 3-4 days in advance. Yesterday's draft, in the form of a shopping list, doesn't really work to plan with, so I may open up a proper planning document today.

Woke up just before 9. Tried going back to sleep, but failed, and got up at 10 (95 on the meter). Thinking a lot about the second Gaza post. My plan was to review and post the first one yesterday, but I managed nothing for the day (other than adding some Loose Tabs). Probably best to see if I can get the new one going, then be able to offer both of them in rapid succession. The new Ilan Pappé book arrived today. Read some more from Barkan, including bits on Occupy, the "leaderless left" and the "Palestine left." I'm not very happy with these concepts, but I have long maintained that the "failure" of the New Left was really just an extreme opposition to power, so much so that they didn't even trust themselves. That led to cultural wins but didn't secure them politically, making it easier for the right to roll them back.

Email (14 messages):

• OR book by Paul Holden on Keir Starmer: The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy.
• Xgau Sez: October, 2025: questions on '90s CD compilations, E[+-] grades (namecheck to me as "unstoppable"), albums vs. songs, Mary J Blige, Geese, chansons. I need to post, but didn't get to it today.

Mar 2001